Humility of self and effusive praise for others was how Bob Gayou conducted himself in the world. Bob could find something good in everyone around him. He valued friendships and taught by example all who knew and loved him the meaning of being a real friend; we all listen better and are hopefully better friends because of Bob.
Robert Gayou (Bob) was born in Minnesota but moved as a child with his family to Canada where his father worked in the paper mills. He attended Trinity College in Dublin Ireland where he studied biological science and where notably he led his basketball team in smoking the most cigarettes during the timeouts. Bob graduated from the University of British Columbia Medical School and in the Spring of 1976 was on his way to a medical residency in New Zealand when he happened upon Santa Barbara and fell in love with the town and its people. He cancelled his plans for New Zealand and spent a year prior to starting his medical residency at Cottage Hospital working at McGann Medical investigating aspects of tissue interactions with silicone medical devices.
Bob served as the Medical Director of both the Santa Barbara and Goleta Cottage Hospital Emergency Departments. Bob’s soothing voice and gentle confidence put his emergency room patients immediately at ease. He was the only physician to be awarded Physician of the Year at Cottage Hospital twice…